Just when Ning Xia Qing was still worried about Zhao Xiaobao's accidental appearance, suddenly a soft voice sounded in her ears: "My cousin is tired, why don't I loosen my cousin's muscles." Immediately, a pair of soft hands reached Ning Ningqing's shoulders.

Ning Ningqing didn't say a word, and glanced over coldly, Du Qiutong put down his hand and said, "I'...... I just feel sorry for my cousin, and over the years, I have long regarded my cousin as my own sister. If you offend my cousin, don't be angry with me......"

Ningxia Qingxin said, it seems that as he just expected, Du Qiutong didn't come just to show off the clothes that Tan Wenshi had purchased. Ning Xia Qing said coldly: "Say, what is the matter with you coming here today?" ”

Du Qiutong was stunned, tears instantly filled up in his eyes, and he stroked his chest and said, "I really came here this time just to congratulate my cousin." My cousin has treated me like a sister over the years, and I have always treated my cousin as my sister, how can I have ulterior motives? If I have half a point of thinking about my cousin, I will definitely not be rewarded! ”

Ning Xia Qing looked at it coldly, the corners of his mouth hooked into a smile, and said, "Oh? In this case, you have congratulated and congratulated, so go home, lest others say that you are a girl who is about to leave the cabinet and do not guard your home well, and when the time comes, it will not be good for you. ”

"Cousin......" Du Qiutong said in an instant, and said: "As soon as I saw my cousin, I wanted to be close to my cousin, so I was reluctant to leave!" In the final analysis, our Ning family and Du family are a family. ”

"Oh." Ning Xia Qing sneered in his heart and asked, "Say, what's wrong with the Du family?" ”

"It's not a big deal...... Du Qiutong noticed that Ning Ningqing's tone was not good, but he could only bite the bullet and say: "My brother said that my cousin is now a master and has met so many nobles, but it is really promising, my brother wants to learn from my cousin the way of learning, so I want to ask my cousin to arrange a buddy's errand for him in Huacaiyuan." ”

Du Qiutong straightened his face and said: "Actually, I didn't agree at first, I also said that my brother is here, I said that my cousin has just started, it must be very difficult, our family has no ability, we can't help my cousin, so don't go to make trouble for my cousin." And my cousin already has several guys here, and there is no shortage of my brother's one. ”

Ning Xia Qing smiled and said meaningfully: "You think about me." ”

Du Qiutong immediately smiled flatteringly, climbed up to Ning Ningqing's arm, and said affectionately: "But when I think about it, with my cousin's ability, this Huacaiyuan will definitely get bigger and bigger in the future, and I will definitely recruit more guys when the time comes." In that case, it's also a good thing for my cousin to have my brother come over. ”

Du Qiutong persuaded: "Since you have to recruit people sooner or later, instead of recruiting those from unknown sources, it is better to use my brother." We are a family, and my brother will definitely help my cousin do a big business wholeheartedly, and he will never pay more than the guy next to him, cousin, you can rest assured. ”

Ning Xia Qing didn't answer positively, but asked, "Hasn't your brother been running boats all these years?" Why do you suddenly want to be a buddy? Being a guy is no more face-saving than running a boat now, and he doesn't earn as much as running a boat. What's the trouble with him? ”

Du Qiutong sighed: "Don't mention it." Now it's not easy to mix up the boat business, there was an accident some time ago, but it affected a lot of people. Besides, my brother is not young, because he has been running boats all the year round, and he has delayed all the major events of his life. ”

Du Qiutong shook Ning Ningqing's arm, and Pear Blossom said with rain: "Cousin, I think it's pitiful and pitiful that my brother hasn't started a family at this age, so I took him in and gave him a bite to eat." ”

Ning Xia Qing refused without hesitation: "As you said, Huacaiyuan has just started, and it is indeed very difficult for me, and I already have several guys here, and I really can't get that bite of food for your brother to eat right now." Besides, Huacaiyuan does not add a buddy, it is up to the decision of the shopkeeper, I am not the shopkeeper, and it is useless for you to tell me. ”

"Although my cousin is not the shopkeeper, my cousin is the boss." Du Qiutong said very arrogantly: "The boss has the final say, in front of the boss, what is the calculation of a mere shopkeeper!" Besides, the shopkeeper is an outsider, and my cousin and my brother are a family. ”

Ning Xia Qing smiled and said, "Qiu Tong, you haven't done business, and you don't understand how much weight the shopkeeper has for a shop." ”

Ning Xia Qing patted Du Qiutong's hand, smiled and said regretfully: "If you had come to tell me about this a few days earlier, no matter how difficult it is for me here, I will not ignore your brother." But I only told the shopkeeper Dong yesterday, and after that, he will have the final say on recruiting people in the shop. If I said it yesterday, you can't make me think I didn't say it today. ”

Du Qiutong was stunned and didn't know how to continue. Ning Xia Qing turned to ask: "Speaking of which, since you are about to enter the door of the Tan family, if your brother really intends to settle down, why don't you go and ask Tan Ye?" Tan Ye's family business is bigger than mine, and your brother is a partner under Tan Ye, which has a better future than in me, and he earns more. Why do you bother him to come to me? ”

Du Qiutong said sadly: "Actually, I also know that my cousin has just started, and there are many difficulties, if it is feasible on Tan Ye's side, why am I willing to trouble my cousin?" ”

Ning Xia Qing couldn't help asking: "What do you say?" ”

Du Qiutong said aggrievedly: "It is because of my relationship with Tan Ye, if I let my brother work under Tan Ye, there will be people who will use this to make irresponsible remarks about Tan Ye." Although Tan Ye's family business is big, it is all Ning San's, if others take this opportunity to say something in front of Ning San, wouldn't it be causing trouble for Tan Ye. But my cousin is different, my cousin is a serious boss, who dares to gossip about my cousin? ”

This Du Qiutong is quite afraid of causing trouble to Tan Wenshi, but he is really considerate! Ning Xia Qing couldn't help laughing: "These words were all told to you by Tan Ye, right?" ”

Du Qiutong lowered his face and did not speak, which was equivalent to acquiescence. Ningxia Qing was relieved, so he persuaded: "Qiu Tong, I won't come with you, just tell you a few words of truth, if you are really smart, go and ask Tan Ye." ”

"Huh? Why? Du Qiutong was stunned, raised his head, and looked at Ning Xia Qing in confusion.

Ning Xia Qing said seriously: "You are the person next to Tan Ye, it is natural for Tan Ye to arrange an errand for your brother, if Tan Ye doesn't even do this for you, how can he think about you in the future?" is the so-called competition for favor, this pet is won by yourself, if you want to please Tan Ye everywhere to tolerate everything, others will only think that you are a bully. ”

Seeing that Du Qiutong was stunned, Ning Xia Qing turned to a deep voice and said: "You also know what kind of temper Tan Ye's wife is, you and her have a difference between wives and concubines, and there were some festivals in the past. If you let others think that you are weak and deceitful, and when you enter the Tan Mansion, she has no fear of you, can you still live your life? ”

Du Qiutong's face couldn't help but show a little worried. What Ning Xia Qing said was the truth, even if Du Qiutong had 11 million distrusts of Ning Xia Qing, he could hear that Ning Xia Qing was right. Du Qiutong couldn't help but worry and hesitate: "This ......"

Ningxia Qinggen said: "You yourself understand that the days of the concubine room all depend on the face of the main room, the main room is kind and kind, and the concubine can have a peaceful life. Do you think Xue Qianqian, who has always been ruthless and convincing, will deal with you like this? ”

Looking at Du Qiutong's already pale and trembling face, Ning Xia Qing asked: "Although there is still Tan Ye, if Tan Ye wants to protect it, he can protect you." But Tan Ye is not even willing to do this for you now, will he offend Xue Qianqian and the Xue family behind her for you in the future? ”

Ning Xia Qing said in a lower voice: "Tan Ye will not offend the Xue family for you, unless you can let your brother work hard under Tan Ye, Tan Ye will take care of you more or less if he takes this into account." This is the only way for you to protect yourself under Xue Qianqian's hands in the future. ”

Du Qiutong's face was red and white for a while, Ning Ningqing's words were very ugly, but they were also very real, and there were big truths that Du Qiutong wouldn't like to listen to but had to listen to. No matter how unconvinced Du Qiutong was, he could only say obediently: "What my cousin said is true." ”

"Okay, I'm still busy here, you can go." Ning Xia Qing said lightly, and then stopped paying attention to Du Qiutong. Du Qiutong neither advanced nor retreated, his face was full of worry.

At this moment, Dong Zizhen rushed in in a rage and shouted: "The head of the house, I heard that the Xue Mansion invited the head of the house to the banquet!" ”

Ning Xia Qing hurriedly said: "You be quiet!" Then he asked, "Why did you come back?" Is this the end of the feast? ”

Dong Zizhen patted his chest and said proudly with his tongue open: "I ...... those shopkeepers They're all drunk...... They were all helped back! In charge, the banquet in Xue Mansion is not something that ordinary people can go to, I heard that those businessmen from Yueling County have bulging purses one by one, if we can catch the people of Yueling County, we will send it! ”

Ning Xia Qing sighed: "Don't talk nonsense. Where can a small shop like ours get into the eyes of those big businessmen? It's nice to be able to recognize faces. "Having said that, if she can really recognize her face, when she gets Sang Yuan back in the future, the scale of her family will be larger, and these merchants in Yueling County will be ready-made big customers.

Ning Ningqing then instructed: "Shopkeeper Dong, you go and inquire with me, who will go to Xue Mansion that day, especially to inquire about the businessmen from Yueling County, we must understand their origins and preferences, we know ourselves and know that the other side can survive a hundred battles." ”

"Don't worry!" Dong Zizhen patted his chest and patted Bang Bang Xiang: "I'm the best at inquiring about the news!" I'll ask you how many moles each of them have! ”

Jade whispered, "How do you speak? One of the girls in charge of our family, asked what were the men doing with how many moles they had? ”

Dong Zizhen snorted coldly through the wine: "Don't intervene in your little girl, go get me some tea to sober up!" ”

"You ......" Cuiyu's face turned red, and Ningxia Qing said: "Shopkeeper Dong, Cuiyu is the maid next to me, you have to be polite to Cuiyu." ”

Dong Zizhen said again and again: "Yes, yes, I was wrong, I was wrong, please ask Miss Jade to serve me some tea." ”

Ning Xia Qing turned his head and ordered: "Cuiyu, you go and cook some decanting soup for Shopkeeper Dong." ”

"Yes." Cuiyu answered, then glared at Dong Zizhen, and left with a "hum".

Dong Zizhen laughed stupidly a few times, and suddenly slapped his head and said, "Eh, I almost forgot something." ”

Ning Xia Qing raised her eyes and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Dong Zizhen said arrogantly: "Just now in the restaurant, Ah Cai told me that his relatives in his hometown told him a family, and he wanted to go back to get married, and he stayed in his hometown after getting married, so he had to quit his job in our shop." I'm afraid we're going to have to start hiring another guy. ”

Ningxia Qing hurriedly looked around, fortunately Du Qiutong had left at some point, otherwise it would be really difficult to perfunctory Du Qiutong, Ningxia Qing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's right." Uncle Gu Feng is also old, so he should be allowed to rest, just let him take care of the accounts in the future, and don't let him do the physical work. What's more, we will always be bigger in the future, so we should recruit a few more guys. ”

Dong Zizhen smiled and said, "Yes." Although we have only just started this business, this business is really good. If you don't recruit a few more guys, it won't be easy to cope with in the future. ”

Ningxia Qingdao: "Okay, you are the shopkeeper, and the matter of recruiting guys is all up to you." But remember, you are not allowed to recruit someone named Du Zhengshuo. ”

Dong Zizhen was puzzled: "Du Zhengshuo? Who's that? ”

"It's a cousin of mine who wants to come to Hua Cai Yuan as a buddy, but I don't want him to be here."

"Also, hiring people is the most taboo to hire relatives, if you hire relatives, you can't scold, you can't deduct wages, and you have to give more rewards for the New Year's Festival, and some people will feel that they are superior to others because they are relatives of the owner, bully the guys next to them, and cause trouble for the owner. Don't worry about being in charge, I understand the rules of recruiting people and not recruiting relatives! ”

Ning Xia Qing didn't explain to Dong Zizhen the real reason why he didn't want to recruit Du Zhengshuo, just nodded, and then looked to the side, and saw that Ah Zheng was no longer in the shop, maybe he went to the warehouse to pick up the goods, so he asked Dong Zizhen: "Didn't Ah Zheng disappear for a while in the morning?" Do you know where he went? ”

"This ......" Dong Zizhen scratched his head.

Ning Xia Qing asked lightly: "After he disappeared, Ning Zhiheng also disappeared, what is going on?" ”

Dong Zizhen smiled: "It's nothing...... Ah Zheng just cleaned up the few of them, saving them from smashing the field and adding blockage to the hearts of the masters......"

Ning Xia Qing sighed, crying and laughing. At this moment, Cuiyu came back with the decanting soup, gave the decanting soup to Dong Zizhen, and then leaned over to Ningxia Qing's ear and said, "The cousin girl has gone to see Mrs." ”

Ningxia Qing was shocked, no wonder Du Qiutong disappeared suddenly, it turned out that he was looking for the Cao family, it seems that Du Qiutong is not dead, it is estimated that he went to ask the Cao family for help. So he asked, "Did you mention her brother?" ”

"Hmm." Jade nodded and asked with some concern, "What should we do?" ”

Ning Xia Qing smiled disdainfully, and said indifferently: "Don't worry about this. My mother must be towards me, Du Qiutong can say whatever she likes, my mother will not embarrass me for her and her ruined brother. ”

The second watch.

Gu Xuesong still looked at the waist ring woven of red thread. The inferiority complex of his youth is intertwined with the scene of holding the same red rope with her in her Huacai Garden today, making him sink repeatedly between sadness and love.

Three watches.

Ah Zheng sent Gu Feng, who had been busy all day and was already a little unbearable, and then inspected the entire Huacai Garden, checking whether the doors and windows were closed, and whether there were any sparks in the warehouse, but he saw a lit candle in the front hall.

Sure enough, as he expected, Ningxia Qing was still here.

He walked in, Ningxia Qingzheng turned his back to him, carefully estimating the future income according to today's accounts, Ningxia Qing was already focused, plus Ah Zheng had always walked silently, Ningxia Qing noticed him because she suddenly saw his shadow appear on the accounts in front of her.

Ning Ningqing was startled, and his first reaction was to think it was a snitch, and immediately screamed, picked up the nearest inkstone and twisted his face and smashed it backwards.

Ah Zheng was stunned at first, obviously he didn't expect her reaction to be so strong, and subconsciously grabbed her hand, otherwise he would have been hit on the head by the inkstone.

When she saw that it was Ah Zheng, she was stunned, and the undried ink on the inkstone flowed down her hand and splashed on the corner of Ah Zheng's clothes.

Ah Zheng suddenly let go of her hand, she couldn't help but feel that the inkstone in her hand fell down, and her hand couldn't help shaking, but Ah Zheng took the inkstone from her hand and put it aside at this time, raised her cuffs again, and wiped the ink that was still dripping along her fingertips for her.

Ah Zheng wiped her hands a few times carefully, then got up and walked to the stove on the side, picked up the burning stick next to him, stirred the wood in the stove, and whispered, "Where is the jade?" Why don't you come and make the fire a little hotter? You're sitting here yourself, and you don't know how to flip the wood here? Don't know about the cold? ”

She understood why Ah Zheng asked this. When Ah Zheng grabbed her hand just now for self-preservation, Ah Zheng's thick and warm palm made her realize how cold her hand was. Ah Zheng must have realized it, so he went to make the stove for her.

The furnace suddenly became a lake of flames, and the waves of fire that were rekindled slapped one after another, and the flames flickered and flickered, lighting up the dim room and giving it warmth.

She said, "No need to light the fire, I'm about to go back to the house." ”

"Hmm." Ah Zheng was already about to put down the burning stick, but when he heard her say this, he just responded, and his hand was still moving.

She asked, "Why are you here?" ”

"Of course I'm patrolling the shop, it's my duty, don't I do it every night?"

"Hmm......" she was a little confused.

Ah Zheng turned to her and asked, "Why are you still here so late?" ”

"I just want to see how the business is doing today and estimate what will happen in the future."

Ah Zheng raised his eyes and asked, "What will happen in the future?" Do you mean the 50,000 taels? Anyway, it's still early, and there's no hurry. It's Zhao Xiaobao's business, have you come up with an idea? ”

Ning Xia Qing shook her head in frustration, and then noticed that Ah Zheng's clothes, in addition to the ink spots that had been stained by her missing hands, there were also stains from the time she wiped her hands.

According to her memory, this is Ah Zheng's best winter coat, it seems that he has not worn it, it looks like a new one, just because today is the opening day of Hua Cai Yuan, so Ah Zheng is wearing this dress, but at this moment she got ink spots.

The clothes were made of white cotton noodles with fish belly, and it would definitely be difficult to wash with ink, and she couldn't help but feel guilty.

She said, "It's almost winter, let's add you some thick clothes, you have to wear thicker clothes when you run outside all day." ”

Ah Zheng excused himself and said, "It's okay, I'm not afraid of the cold." You see, I usually wear less clothes than others. ”

She thought about it, but it was true, in the autumn and winter weather of previous years, when others wore three layers, Ah Zheng wore one layer, when others wore cotton clothes, Ah Zheng wore single clothes, and when others wore two layers of cotton clothes and cloaks, Ah Zheng wore one cotton coat...... Speaking of which, she did feel incredible, and she didn't understand why Ah Zheng was not afraid of the cold.